GENO: I’d Play for Rex My Entire Career

QB Geno Smith's Monday news conference

On what he saw from the team against Oakland on film…

On film, I’ve seen guys giving maximum effort. The team played really inspired and I also see lots of room for improvement. So we’ve just got to continue to work hard and get better every single day, just go out with the same passion in practice and intensity and just take it for what it’s worth. Just go out there and try to win every single game from here on out.

On how it felt coming into meetings and practice on a Monday following a victory…

It’s a lot different. The spirits are higher, but for me it’s the same work week. I’m starting to prepare for Carolina, watching tape on them today, and also made some corrections from the previous game and just got back to work as normal, as we always do.

On how much he’s watched of Carolina…

I’ve watched some tape on them. Just a little bit.

On if he watched any of the Carolina-New Orleans game Sunday night…

I didn’t watch the game last night, but I came in and watched it this morning.

On how many Carolina games he’s seen…

A few.

On Carolina’s defense…

Good up front. Typical NFL defense, play hard, good guys all around. I think they lead the league in pretty much every defensive category, so it’s going to be another tough game for us. We just have got to continue to prepare and go out there and fight hard.

On what makes Carolina’s defense a challenge…

From my perspective, I just think they play hard and they have a really good defense.

On throwing on the run against Oakland on designed rollout plays…

It’s good for our offense. It moves the pocket. It helps our offensive line out with not giving the defensive ends and D-tackles a set target for where the quarterback will be. It just helps us out, it gets us going as an offense. It’s also good to pick up completions. And just to get some times where we get the ball out to the flats with Kellen [Winslow] or Jeff [Cumberland] or get the ball out to the flats with Tommy [Bohanon]. So just getting the ball on the edge and getting the ball in the hands of the playmakers really helps us out.

It’s important to have those guys out here, but honestly, we have to roll with the guys that we have. No matter who’s out there, we expect them to give full effort and we expect them and when I say them, I mean us all, we expect to compete and go out there and execute. It’s just good to have Kellen and that leadership that he brings, as well as Santonio and Jeremy.

On if he had a conversation with Marty Mornhinweg about utilizing rollout plays and getting him outside the pocket for last week’s game…

We try and do it every week. Like I said, it comes down to execution. It’s not really about the plays that are called all the time, it’s about us as players executing those plays. Marty dialed up a few of those plays where I was able to use my legs more and get outside the pocket and read some plays downfield, but I just think the execution was better overall.

On how much rollout and moving the pocket passing he did in college…

I don’t really talk about college anymore. I don’t care for it.

On his comfort level with rollout plays and throwing on the run…

Yeah, we’re comfortable with it. The plays that are called, we typically want to execute well with them. So pretty much all the plays we’re comfortable with.

On if he was making more calls and audibles at the line of scrimmage against Oakland than he did earlier in the season…

I would say this game was maybe a little bit more because of the multiple looks that we would get from that defense. They had Charles Woodson, who can be anywhere, similar to how Troy Polamalu played us. You’ve got to find those guys and a lot of the play calls and play checks are based off the fronts and the way those guys move around. We had some opportunities to make some checks at the line and I think we executed those pretty well. But again, it comes down to how we execute those plays no matter what’s called.

On how much responsibility is on him to make the call and check the play at the line of scrimmage…

Well, it’s all built into the system. It’s not like I’m freelancing or doing my own thing. All of those things are built in and things that we talk about throughout the week and we game-plan. If you get a certain look, you want to check to a certain pass or a run and that’s something that we did well with.

On if he felt that he could make more checks and audibles earlier in the season…

I don’t know. Knowing me, I would’ve said yes, but who’s to say? I don’t know.

On if having the responsibility of checking the play at the line of scrimmage shows the coaches' trust in him…

Yeah, I believe so. And the thing is, even after that interception that I threw, we came right back out and we passed it again. That shows that the offensive coordinator has trust in me as the quarterback and my teammates as well. I just want to go out there and make those guys proud and once again, just execute the plays and get them run to the best of my ability. So the key thing for us is to put this game behind us and move on and try to do the same thing next week.

On if he’d prefer to throw the ball after he commits a turnover…

Yeah, obviously I want to throw it, as a quarterback, but I let Marty call the plays and he does a great job of that. But I just think it shows that he has confidence in me, when we have a turnover like that and we come right back out and we pass it.

On if Mornhinweg is letting him call audibles more now than earlier in the season…

A thing about Marty is he’s always given me that freedom. We did that a bunch of times all year. I’ve always had that freedom. I just think we had more opportunities to do so in this game, than we did in the past.

On if the team can look at New Orleans' success Sunday night and use it to help exploit Carolina’s defense…

Yeah, we will. We’ll try and find ways to move the chains. Like I said, they’re a tough defense, but we expect ourselves to go out there and execute. We’re going to study all the tape and find ways for us to execute and find things that we’re good at that can be effective against their defense.

On if he took heat during film review for lowering his shoulder on the 32-yard run…

Yes, I did. And it probably won’t happen again.

On who gave him heat during film review…

Everyone. All my coaches.

On if any teammates gave him heat…

No, not the team. Guys like that type of stuff, but the coaches didn’t.

On if he was trying to send a message by lowering his shoulder…

Yeah, not so much send a message, but I just wanted to play hard. Play hard and never back down and I don’t think that was a smart thing to do, but in that moment, it’s what I did.

On if it was going against his instincts to lower his shoulder…

Not really. I’ve slid and I’ve went out of bounds plenty of times. In that moment I can’t really tell you what came over me, but it’s what I did.

On what it means playing for Coach Rex Ryan…

It means a lot. One of the better, if the not the best coach I’ve had. Very smart guy. To go up against that type of defense every day in practice, dating back to OTAs and training camp, has made me a thousand times better than I ever could’ve imagined. So playing for Rex is a dream come true. I was good friends with Samari Rolle and Ray Lewis when they played with him in Baltimore. I spent time up there and watched a few games there, so from then I knew that the players loved him and my take on it has been the exact same thing. He’s a great coach, I love playing for him and I’d love to play for him my entire career.

On if he wears different cleats or gloves when playing in cold and snowy weather…

I try not to let that affect me. I don’t wear a glove. Maybe if there’s an issue where I feel the need to, I will. But typically I’m good in cold-weather games.

On the offense’s confidence when they are able to have success running the football…

It’s a huge confidence booster for our offense and for myself and the backs, when we’re able to pick up yards, 4 and 5 yards on first down, it just keeps us on schedule as an offense. And then we did a pretty good job on read plays as well. I was able to pick up some yards and had that one touchdown. When we’re able to run the ball and control the line of scrimmage, obviously we do better as an offense.

Let us know your thoughts. Comment below through Facebook, AOL, Hotmail or Yahoo accounts.Please read the Terms of Use for our commenting policy.